Women across America leaped for joy when the 19th Amendment, ratified a century ago, gave them the right to vote. One hundred years later, a much different celebration of suffrage occurred in the Bronx — from 4,500 feet above the Earth.
Highlight Pro Skydiving Team, an all-female skydiving team made the jump over the Bronx on Wednesday morning to celebrate the centennial of women earning the right to vote after a Manhattan flyby earlier on.
The team dove while donning brightly colored smoke and streamers in suffragist colors of purple, white, and yellow while airborne in representation of loyalty, purity and hope.
After a plunge over the Hudson River, the skydivers landed in Woodlawn Cemetery, where women’s suffrage icons Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Carrie Chapman Catt are buried along with many others.
The jump was made to be a special tribute to those freedom fighters, according to Highlight Pro.
“We are using skydiving to capture attention, and we hope that attention turns to the social justice initiatives of today, women’s rights, gender equality and equality at large. Use your voice and your vote, that’s what we want,” said Melanie Curtis, professional skydiver and co-founder of the Highlight Pro Skydiving Team.
Curtis and her team also flew massive flags displaying messages like “equality can’t wait,” “votes for women,” “shall not be denied” along with other slogans.
“This is such a significant moment in history that, even with all the challenges in our current world, we wanted to find a way to safely and boldly honor the women who made it possible,” she added.
